We met Canelle Jean-Jean, a football player and artist/singer from Paris.

When did you start playing football?

I'm passionate about sports but more precisely about football since I was a child, and at 10 years old I had to get my parents to sign me up in the club of my city but unfortunately the experience was not very pleasant because we were only 2 girls on the 80 members of the team. So we didn't get much playing time. I then stopped playing football altogether until 2016, when I discovered that a French women's team existed and that made me want to play again.

Which clubs do you play in?

I have played in several teams since 2016. At the beginning it was teams with friends, The Tatas, The Goalies. Then in 2018 I joined the Peanut Sluts, and finally Little Miss Soccer, with whom I have been playing since 2022.

How do you feel when you play?

Football is a real escape from everyday life. It's a very special feeling to love and play a team sport. When you go to the training sessions or matches, despite all the stress of the week, there is the excitement of meeting your teammates, the euphoria of putting on your equipment, the words of the coach before entering the field. Then you step on the (artificial) pitch and life outside no longer exists. All that matters is the understanding on the pitch, doing your best to help your team and with each match, surpassing yourself a little more.

Your best memory of a game? Or a competition?

My best memory of a match is not necessarily a victory, a great move or a goal. I had a cycling accident in the summer of 2022 which kept me off the pitch for 6 months because of a pretty broken collarbone. The day I was finally able to put on my boots again was very special, I was quite anxious about getting injured again or not being able to play at the same level, but I felt the support of my teammates and my captain who encouraged me before kick-off. In the end, I was smiling all the way through the game to touch the ball again!

Your best memory off the field? 

I'm going to be quite boating on this answer but the happiness felt on 15 July 2018 when France won the world cup was indescribable. I cried with joy, it was so incredible to see all of Paris in such a communion. I hope to experience that again with our women!

Do you have a player you love the most ?

I have immense respect for the American players and their captain Rapinoe, who remind us at every competition that you can be great champions and not forget your values and above all fight for your convictions. If we stay on French territory, I love Amel Majri's style of play, she is incredibly technical, a real warrior on the court, whether it is in attack or in defence, you don't really want to be facing her.

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It depends a lot on the period, but I need music that will motivate me. So either I put on rap tracks, the kind that make you want to be in the ring and fight, like Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Niska in French, or rock tracks under a battery of electricity like the Strokes, MGMT, Arctic Monkeys.

What is your dream ?

I've had a dream since I was a teenager, and that's to visit the biggest stadiums in France and Europe. To go and get drunk with the atmosphere and the fervour of the local supporters and to go home with the home shirt as a souvenir. I was lucky enough to see matches at the Stade de France, the Parc des Princes, Jean Bouin, the Stade Auguste Delaune in Reims, the Groupama Stadium in Lyon, the Camp Nou in Barcelona, the Brøndby IF stadium, home of the Danish team of the same name, Brøndby. I'm still missing quite a few and I'm looking forward to discovering many more.

What is your dream ?

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Anything else you want to share ?

Long live football, long live the chicks, long live to ALKÉ !!